Take Responsibility

A Virginia inmate, Robert Brock, made the headlines a few years ago when he sued himself for five million dollars.

It seems he violated his own civil rights by getting drunk and arrested -- and so, he filed a lawsuit against himself.

He then asked the state to pay -- as he couldn't have an income in prison.

Well, maybe he was insincere -- but he did take personal responsibility! That's better than average.

Most of us tend to avoid responsibility by making excuses and blaming others. It's always someone else's fault!

It is refreshing when somebody stands tall and takes responsibility for his/her own actions.

President Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that said, "The buck stops here!" Now, that's taking responsibility.

Pope John XXIII, shortly after he was elected pontiff, said, "It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it -- then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope!"

Every now and then, I catch myself saying, "Somebody really ought to . . ."

And then I realize, I am somebody! That means I need to quit complaining and start working towards a solution.

Take responsibility! Don't shirk it.

Joseph Fort Newton said, "A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid; it is only deferred, and we must come back and settle the account at last."

"All problems become smaller if you don't dodge them but confront them," stated William S. Halsey, "Touch a thistle timidly, and it pricks you; grasp it boldly, and its spines crumble."

The single reason why so few people rise to become leaders is the unwillingness to pay the price of responsibility.

Comments

  1. Anonymous4:51 PM

    I AM SOMEBODY!!! And I intend to do what I can to take responsibility and do something!

    I refuse to sit idly by and watch tasks and wrongs unaddressed because of laziness, fear of making a mistake or criticism by others.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really like that last line about leadership. The quote from Pope John was good too :-)

    ReplyDelete

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